It's an action-packed weekend for college football. What interests the most is how early the action is condensed.
There are four games featuring two ranked teams and all are at or before 3:30 p.m. Ohio State's clash with Penn State is the most visible of these contests but don't lose sight of Notre Dame's home game against NC State. That either of these programs are ranked given preseason expectations is surprising. That they're both in the top 15 is astonishing.
Elsewhere, it's separation Saturday in the Big XII. TCU travels to Ames while Oklahoma State hits the road again for Morgantown in two games that will better sort the Big XII standings before we enter November. In Oklahoma State's case, Bedlam is coming up next.
Here's your viewing guide for this weekend.
Thursday
South Alabama at Georgia State (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.). There are two MAC games starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday night but neither is widely available. Toledo at Ball State and Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois will start a half hour before this game.
However, this one is more readily available and the teams are actually decent as far as Sun Belt teams go. Both are middle-of-the-pack squads with winning conference records, though everyone is looking up at 5-2 Appalachian State with its undefeated 4-0 Sun Belt record.
Stanford at Oregon State (ESPN, 9 p.m.). Stanford is back in the Top 25 after a 49-7 shellacking of Oregon. It has what is likely the best running back in the country (Bryce Love) and is well-positioned to race to the Pac-12 North championship.
It'll have little difficulty in Corvallis even with Bryce Love a game-time decision. The next two weeks will say everything. Stanford travels to Pullman next week and hosts Pac-12 champion Washington thereafter.
Friday
Tulane at Memphis (CBS Sports, 8 p.m.). Memphis is 6-1 and the clear favorite to secure the American Athletic West division championship. The one loss is to UCF in the other division but that still makes a New Year's Six invite a real possibility for the Tigers.
Florida State at Boston College (ESPN, 8 p.m.). Florida State is what Notre Dame was last year. I could be spun a plausible story about Florida State struggling after losing Dalvin Cook to the NFL and losing Deondre Francois to injury after the first game against Alabama.
Been a rough year in Tallahassee. (Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports)
That the Seminoles have struggled so much is still a bit surprising. Effectively, Dalvin Cook's departure and Deondre Francois' injury have only magnified that Florida State's offensive line is bad. That unit can be pushed around by anyone.
At least 2-4 Florida State is on the road for this contest because the Seminoles are incidentally winless at Doak Campbell this year.
Tulsa at SMU (ESPN2, 9 p.m.). SMU plays in the toughest Group of Five conference. Memphis, South Florida, and UCF are all masking how competitive SMU is this year. The Mustangs, long a doormat, are 5-2 in Chad Morris' third season in Dallas.
Saturday
Buffalo at Akron (CBS Sports, 11:30 a.m.). You can get your football Saturday started a half hour earlier if you would like. Akron is a curious team. At 4-4 and 3-1 in the MAC, the Zip are the top team in the MAC East. However, that first conference loss on the season came at MAC West front-runner Toledo. The Rockets hammered the Zips by 27 points.
Wisconsin at Illinois (ESPN, 12 p.m.). The best team in the B1G West plays the worst teams in the conference in Champaign. Illinois earned the distinction of the worst team in the league when it lost by 11 points to Rutgers.
Miami at North Carolina (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). What a difference two years make. The Hurricanes were a listless program in 2015 when they traveled to Chapel Hill to receive a 38-point beatdown from the Tar Heels. Now, the Tar Heels are 1-7, already ineligible for the postseason, while the Hurricanes are the No. 8 team in the country.
Oklahoma State at West Virginia (ABC, 12 p.m.). This is the first of four games featuring two ranked teams. Oklahoma State again hits the road after a tough 13-10 win last week in Austin to play the No. 22 Mountaineers.
However, the subtext to this game is next week when Oklahoma State hosts the Sooners for Bedlam. The Big XII scheduled that game for a mid-season encounter in case both teams are No. 1 and No. 2 by season's end for the new Big XII Championship Game.
Rutgers at Michigan (BTN, 12 p.m.). I would otherwise suggest that Rutgers is the perfect team for a Michigan team licking its wounds but Rutgers is riding a two-game winning streak. It even beat a competitive Purdue team in its last game.
Texas at Baylor (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Likewise, Texas needs to get back in the saddle after a two-game losing streak. Baylor should be ideal for that. The Bears are 0-7 and an abjectly terrible team in Matt Rhule's first year.
California at Colorado (Pac-12 Network, 2 p.m.). Both teams are 4-4 so the intrigue here concerns the path to the postseason with a loss. California still has Stanford and UCLA on the schedule. Colorado, the worst team in the Pac-12 South, still has Arizona State, USC, and Utah to go as well.
Kansas State at Kansas (FS1, 3 p.m.). This rivalry is always lopsided. Kansas won all but seven encounters between 1941 and 1979. Kansas State won every game from 1993 to 2003. Kansas won four of five between 2004 and 2008. Thereafter? All Kansas State and routinely by three touchdowns or more.
Air Force at Colorado State (CBS Sports, 3 p.m.). Colorado State is 4-0 in the Mountain West and 6-2 overall. Still, games against Boise State and Wyoming are on the schedule.
Penn State at Ohio State (FOX, 3:30 p.m.). This is the unquestioned game of the week, host of ESPN's College GameDay and the second of four games this week featuring two ranked teams. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this contest.
Georgia at Florida (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Given Georgia's trajectory this season, it's any wonder that this is also not a ranked contest. Alas, Florida Gators football is an exercise in how bad a team can be and still win the SEC East as it has the past two seasons.
Georgia is a 14-point favorite.
TCU at Iowa State (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). This is the third of four games this week featuring two ranked teams, and it could be a subtle barn-burner. This isn't your daddy's Iowa State team. At 5-2, the Cyclones look poised for a solid finish to the season.
That may not involve a win over TCU, but the Cyclones will at least get their chance at home.
NC State at Notre Dame (NBC, 3:30 p.m.). This is the fourth and final game of the week to feature two ranked teams and it's outright astonishing that it is. Further, it's one of the most surprising developments of the season that these two teams are not only ranked, but ranked high. Notre Dame is No. 9 and threatening a playoff berth.
NC State, meanwhile, is No. 14. That's the highest ranking for the Wolfpack since Philip Rivers was the quarterback in 2003.
These students were hardly infants the last time NC State was this good. (Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports)
UCLA at Washington (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Washington's loss at Arizona State seems to have taken the Pac-12 from the playoff picture. Last week's bloodletting of USC by Notre Dame only underscored what Arizona State did a few weeks earlier.
Washington should be fine against UCLA in Husky Stadium, though. The Huskies are 17-point favorites.
Michigan State at Northwestern (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). Maybe I'm alone in confessing the Spartans might be the best team of which I've paid absolutely no attention in college football right now. The Spartans are the No. 16 team in the country with just the one loss to Notre Dame. However, that Notre Dame loss is all I've seen of the Spartans this year.
Indiana at Maryland (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Here's a surprising tidbit: Indiana is winless in the Big Ten so far. It's 0-4 despite playing some competitive football against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State largely because its conference schedule was front-loaded with the best teams in the Big East. That included Penn State a few weeks ago.
Indiana can still finish strong with teams like Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, and Purdue still on its schedule.
Houston at South Florida (ESPNU, 3:45 p.m.). The Bulls are 7-0. All that separates them from a showdown with also undefeated UCF at the end of the season is 4-3 Houston, 3-4 Connecticut, and 2-6 Tulsa.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). South Carolina is 5-2 but it needs help to win the SEC East. Importantly, Florida needs to do it a solid and beat the Bulldogs in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, South Carolina needs to win out and importantly beat Georgia next week.
It should have little problem with Vanderbilt, which is still searching for its first conference win.
Minnesota at Iowa (FS1, 6:30 p.m.). Minnesota started the season strong but is limping right now. The Gophers just got off a three-game losing skid but that required a close home win over Illinois, the worst team in the conference.
Iowa won Floyd last year in a close 14-7 contest. (Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)
It'll play for Floyd the Pig on Saturday night. Floyd is still one of the better trophies in college football.
Mississippi State at Texas A&M (ESPN, 7:15 p.m.). Both teams are 5-2 and, given the AP's love affair with the SEC West, it's any wonder neither is ranked. The winner likely will be next week.
Tennessee at Kentucky (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Fun fact: three of the seven teams in the SEC East are winless in the SEC as we approach the end of the October.
Feel free to remind your Volunteer friends that Tennessee is one of those three teams.
Nebraska at Purdue (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). I'm beginning to feel like an idiot in saying Purdue was the best turnaround story in the Big Ten. Resurgent, "turnaround" programs don't lose to Rutgers.
Georgia Tech at Clemson (ABC/ESPN2, 8 p.m.). It's Clemson's first game since the loss to Syracuse. The Tigers are big favorites (-14) at home to Georgia Tech but Georgia Tech is not lightweight. The Yellow Jackets are 4-2 and 3-1 in conference. It can run on anyone (No. 2 rushing offense) and stuff most other running games (No. 20 rushing defense).
Texas Tech at Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2, 8 p.m.). I don't wish Oklahoma well because it upset the Buckeyes in the second week. I don't care that they make us look better. If anything, I find its recent struggles to be amusing. It only beat a winless Baylor team by eight points, lost at home to Iowa State, and needed fourth-quarter comebacks to defeat Texas and Kansas State.
Washington State at Arizona (Pac-12 Network, 9:30 p.m.). The Cougars rebounded from a grisly 35-3 loss to shutout Colorado, 28-0, in its last game.
It won't be that easy for the Cougars in Tucson. Washington State is a field-goal favorite against the No. 4 rushing offense.
USC at Arizona State (ESPN, 10:45 p.m.). If USC is in free fall after Notre Dame dismantled it, we'll find out against the same team that beat Washington in the same venue.
San Diego State at Hawai'i (ESPN2, 11:15 p.m.). Cherish any late-night opportunities to see football on the islands. Importantly, cherish the rushing battle you'll see. Diocemy Saint Justie (Hawai'i) and Rashaad Penny (San Diego State) are the No. 4 and No. 5 rushers in the country.
